Mormon Literature Database

Notice: The Mormon Literature & Creative Arts database has moved to mormonarts.lib.byu.edu.

	Ruth May Fox Ruth May Fox lost her mother when she was just a toddler in England. As a result, her father was compelled to leave her with various family members while he served as a traveling elder for the Church. After immigrating to America in 1865, the fun-loving and mischievous twelve-year-old girl did factory and domestic work for two years to help earn money for the long trip to Utah. When her family was settled there, she went to work in the woolen mill where she operated heavy machinery designed for men, believing she should receive a man’s wage for doing so. She married Jesse W. Fox in 1873, and, over time, they had twelve children. Lacking formal education in her youth, she took college and correspondence courses as an adult. She served in a variety of Church positions and was the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association General President from 1929 to 1937. Her busy life did not prevent her from working energetically for woman suffrage as treasurer of the Utah Woman Suffrage Association and as a member of the Salt Lake County Republican Committee. A charter member of the Utah Woman’s Press Club, she was elected its president in 1897. Fox’s literary efforts include numerous poems published in the Young Woman’s Journal and Improvement Era, song lyrics, and a book of poetry, May Blossoms (1923). Her most familiar work is the Latter-day Saint hymn “Carry On.” [from Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women, 97-98] Included in 75 Significant Mormon Poets View Works by this Person
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Birth Date	November 16, 1853
Death Date	April 12, 1958
Birth Place	Westbury, Wiltshire, England
Parents	James May and Mary Ann Harding
Spouse	Jesse W. Fox

Works by Ruth May Fox Sort by title	Year	Genre
Carry On	1985	Music Lyrics
Cumorah	1923	Poetry
May Blossoms	1923	Poetry Collection
The Relief Society	1915	Poetry
The Bachelor Maid	1913	Poetry
Our Beloved Mother Zina D. H. Young	1901	Poetry
Bear Lake	1900	Poetry